The present invention is an apparatus adapted to provide commonality in the interface between a user's telecommunication equipment and a plurality of broadband information distribution networks. The functionality of the present invention further includes an architecture through which a user (or more appropriately a principal) may obtain secure, authorized and billable connections to broadband networks. The invention provides a general-purpose, multifunction, individually addressable, full-bandwidth bi-directional communication device with built-in Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) capabilities that connect a home or business user with ATM and other switched broadband digital networks in a convenient, adaptable, extensible manner at reasonable cost. The device supports a Document Services Architecture (DSA) and, in particular, supports agent-based communications (including interaction with an Agent Instance Service) to ensure well-behaved communications and fair allocation of network resources among users. The device can be used in a heterogeneous technical environment and with different kinds of networks and protocols. The full-bandwidth bi-directional communication and built-in AAA capabilities of the device distinguish it from other "set-top boxes."
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art of telecommunications that in order to further encourage commerce via the national information infrastructure (NII) that the digital exchange of information must be facilitated. However, the goal of unlimited access to digital information or "works" has been unrecognized. This is primarily due to the lack of a mechanism or system by which an owner of a digital work can be assured of compensation for allowing authorized access to the work. This is also due to the sometimes prohibitive cost of systems and interfaces to the NII. Hence, the present invention is directed to a document communications controller that not only provides a low-cost interface to communications networks, but also provides the services necessary to assure that commercial transactions over a broadband network are authenticated, authorized and accountable.
Heretofore, a number of patents and publications have disclosed various aspects of usage rights, architectures and protocols associated with broadband communications, the relevant portions of which may be briefly summarized as follows:
In "Requirement for Authenticated Signaling: contribution T1S1.5/94-118 to Standards Committee T1S," submitted Apr. 11-15, 1994, Bryan Lyles proposed that authenticated signaling be made a part of signaling. The contribution offered two principal reasons: (a) the efficient maintenance of security, particularly in the presence of "security firewalls" as used in many companies and institutions today, and (b) the efficient prevention of fraud.
In "Service Models and Pricing Policies for an Integrated Services Internet," Proceedings of "Public Access to the Internet". Harvard University, 1993, Scott Shenker argues that an efficient integrated services Internet--his use of the term includes B-ISDN ATM service--must employ per-user, quality-of-service sensitive, and usage-based pricing policies. Implementing such policies requires that the network provider have a capability of recording network usage according to the quality of service employed, and assign costs of such usage to individual clients. Specifically, "[t]he network accounting infrastructure must be built into the basic underlying network protocols. These protocols must not only be able to support accounting, but also some degree of authentication, so that charges are not misassigned." This implies a known, defined relationship between the object that is authenticated and that against which accounting data accrues. As described by T. Smith & J. Stidd, in Requirements and Methodology for Authenticated Signaling, ATM Forum/94-1213 (SA&A Sub Working Group), Nov. 10, 1994, hereby incorporated by reference for its teachings, commerce over a broadband network requires, in addition to Authentication and Accounting. Authorization. A service provider may be satisfied that the requesting party is genuine and that an account for accrual of charges is available, but the provider may not wish to grant the request for any number of reasons, including credit standing or age. Further, Authorization may be a service that the provider wishes to "outsource" to another provider, such as a credit card organization. All of these services depend critically on Authentication and on the identification of the authenticated object with the authorized object and the accounting data accrual object. Efficiency and commerce, in turn, depend critically on the services being at least implementable in broadband protocols. If authentication is not done at call setup time, it must be done "out of band". This would be at least more expensive and time consuming, if not dependent itself on some form of authenticated signaling.
Broadband services inevitably raise issues of privacy and responsibility. Preserving the privacy of the individual within a family or other collocated group, and exercising parental norms, in the absence of user-based setup, would require individual "addresses" or some overhead-laden out-of-band scheme. Implementation of broadband telephony, especially when described as the "information superhighway" and the like, poses many challenges. It is unreasonable to suppose that the public market is going to wait for all of the necessary standards to be in place before charging ahead with what is possible, even if the approaches to the problems those standards pose aren't well treated or even posed. Establishing authenticatable, user-based communication as a basis for efficient commerce, not to mention efficient network provisioning, is a problem that must be resolved to enable electronic commerce.
At the present time, Internet security is generally handled by "security firewalls", as described by Lyles. These firewalls must examine all of the Internet packet headers passing through the firewall to verify that communication is occurring only between authorized host systems. While this security filter will work over any network, including B-ISDN, it will cause severe performance degradation of a high-speed connection, since the router software implementing the firewall may be unable to process the data fast enough to prevent slowdown. Some method is needed to inform the firewall of the source and destination systems involved in a B-ISDN connection so that the data can be passed around the firewall, if the connection is authorized, in order to avoid terminating one end of the connection at the firewall.
The present invention is directed to aspects of computer network authentication that depends on verifying the identity of a user by requiring proof of knowledge of the value of secret data. This secret data, called the "key", is unique for every user, and is used whenever the user must prove identity. A trivial version of this is the password that a user must enter in order to log in to most computer systems. A much more sophisticated and secure method is available in the federal government's Digital Signature Standard (DSS), FIPS 186, Digital Signature Specification, NIST, 1993. DSS is based on public key cryptography, which uses two separate keys, one for encryption and the other for decryption. Using the secret encryption key, the user encrypts a block of several data items to form a "digital signature". The data items and the signature are then examined by whoever must verify the authenticity of the user's identity. The digital signature is decrypted with the user's publicly known decryption key. (For example, the public key may be stored in a user directory.) If the decrypted signature forms the same data items that were also available in clear text, then the user must have known the secret encryption key, and hence is authentic. (The secret and public keys are generated in pairs, and one cannot be derived from the other.) Given the ease of administration of an authentication system based on DSS, and the fact that DSS is exportable without restriction under federal law, it is proposed here as the algorithm used in the authentication. However, the rest of this proposal would work with any digital signature or password scheme; it does not depend fundamentally on DSS.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,311 to Lyles, issued Apr. 19, 1994, discloses a copy network providing multicast capabilities in a broadband ISDN fast packet switch.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,780 to Bingham et al., issued Aug. 2, 1988, teaches an enhanced efficiency Batcher-Banyan packet switch.
In "Large Packet Switch and Contention Resolution Device," XIII International Switching Symposium--Poster Session, Vol. III, Paper No. 14, pp. 77-83 (May-June 1989), A. Cisneros teaches a contention resolution mechanism in a packet switch. The mechanism allows arbitration over a large number of input lines at a high speed.
In "All Aboard the SST", Computer Letter (Technologic Partners), Vol. 9 No. 32, (Sep. 27, 1993), pp. 1-7, describes a need for a smart set-top (SST) box positioned at the hub of a system to request services, information and programming from an upstream network, while using a VCR and TV as peripherals in a mode similar to a personal computer or workstation.
To further understand the advantages of the present invention, it is best to provide some background associated with existing or contemplated technology. First, the set-top box, where the model is that of an "information diode." Broadband transmission runs from the service provider (the "head end") to the consumer, with very low bandwidth transmission in the reverse direction. The head end has a powerful server computer, whereas the consumer has a relatively dumb box acting as the document communications controller (DCC). There is no built-in AAA; instead, authentication and authorization is per box, not per user, and accounting is handled by metering performed at the head end. The envisioned range of applications focuses on home entertainment and information services.
CommerceNet, Netscape 2.0--This model contemplates two-way communication between sellers and buyers of goods and services. Bandwidth is generally somewhat limited (MBone is a possible exception?). At either end of the communication can be a personal computer, a workstation, or a local-area network. Authentication and authorization is layered on top of the basic Internet protocol, rather than being built in from the ground up. There is no built-in accounting function. The envisioned range of applications focuses on business conducted over the Internet, which includes the provision of goods and services to end-use consumers and also interactions between businesses, including a lack of service level management businesses that act as intermediaries or brokers.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a document communications control device, comprising:
a processor; PA1 a first hardware interface for establishing an interconnection between the document communications control device and a broadband network; PA1 a customer premises equipment interface for interconnecting the document communications control device with customer premises equipment; and PA1 memory for storing code executable on said processor PA1 said code including an operating system and communications protocols to implement a plurality of document service functions including at least one of authorization, authentication and accounting. PA1 a first document communications controller comprising a processor, a first hardware interface for establishing an interconnection between the document communications control device and a broadband network, a customer premises equipment interface for interconnecting the document communications control device with customer premises equipment, and memory for storing code executable on said processor, said code including an operating system and communications protocols to implement a plurality of document service functions including authorization, authentication and accounting; PA1 a second document communications controller also comprising a processor, a first hardware interface for establishing an interconnection between the document communications control device and a broadband network, a customer premises equipment interface for interconnecting the document communications control device with customer premises equipment, and memory for storing code executable on said processor, said code including an operating system and communications protocols to implement a plurality of document service functions including authorization, authentication and accounting; and PA1 a broadband communications network interconnecting said first and said second document communications controllers.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communications system, including:
One aspect of the invention deals with a basic problem in broadband telecommunications (e.g., an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network)--that of providing a common interface for various pieces of telecommunications equipment that presently exist in a home, office or similar location. In particular, it is necessary to provide a low-cost document communications controller (i.e., a document communications controller) that may be employed as either a set-top or point of service entry unit.
This aspect is further based on the discovery of an architecture that alleviates this problem. The architecture includes a document communications controller (DCC) that not only serves as the physical interface with the ATM service, but also provides a software interface to a plurality of software modules. The combination of the document communications controller and its associated software and communications capabilities is one aspect of a communications system infrastructure that may be employed to provide secure, authorized and billable access to the ATM networks.
In a collaborative workgroup environment, the DCC provides a cost effective way of networking desktops, including video, sound, document transfer and telephone connection switching. The DCC can also be employed to connect existing local area network environments to an ATM backbone serving entire buildings. For home communications, the DCC provides a low cost method of delivering on-demand video, telephone and print distribution to the home over a single connection. It is submitted that the DCC will support telecommuting by enabling the establishment of direct video, audio and document interchange with colleagues--at a level of quality superior to ISDN environments. Moreover, the present invention enables multicasting, and the document communications capabilities of the DCC allow a consumer to exploit the most cost effective communication mode.
The system broadly described above is advantageous because it is both efficient and inexpensive compared to other approaches, while making it unnecessary to have a plurality of service access devices (e.g., one for each telecommunication device). The plurality of service access devices are thereby replaced by, or interconnect to, a centrally managed port. Moreover, the proposed document communications controller is flexible and can be adapted to provide access via any of a number of broadband communication networks. The present invention can be used to provide additional communications services to the consumer via expansion of consumer-owned services or via third party services. The techniques of the invention are advantageous because they provide a range of communication alternatives, each of which is useful in appropriate situations. A wide variety of operations can be implemented using these techniques, including the implementation of accounting, authorization and authentication for transactions accomplished via the communications networks. As a result of the invention, it is believed that consumers will be provided with a convenient, cost-competitive interface to broadband communication networks .